Trailers are commonly used for transporting goods, equipment, materials, and the like. Many trailers include a plurality of axles, which may be separated from one another to distribute the load of the trailer more evenly. In some instances, these axles may be separated by 10 feet or more.
One problem associated with trailers having axles separated from one another is high lateral forces experienced in the tires of those axles during tight turning maneuvers. The high lateral forces may cause premature deterioration in the tires, which may lead to dangerous and costly tire failure. Also, trailers having separated axles may experience a strain as a result of the high lateral forces experienced in the tires of the axles.
Axles using air springs may be raised by decreasing pressure in the air springs, and may be lowered by increasing pressure in the air springs. Decreasing pressure in air springs associated with at least one axle will cause that axle to raise, and will transfer a majority of the load from the raised axle to an axle having air springs with higher pressure. The trailer may then pivot on the remaining axle (having air springs with higher pressure), thereby preventing high lateral forces to be experienced in the tires.
What is needed is a system for automatically decreasing pressure in a trailer's air spring.